In a World of Limitless Content, Establishing Trust is King

With so much content out there, it’s fairly easy to click on article after article and find what you think you’re looking for from a dozen different sources. So the question is, why would anyone stick to any one source? Well, the simple answer is trust. The end goal of effective SEO copywriting is to increase traffic to your site and keep them there. Doing so reduces friction, decreases bounce rates, and leads readers towards an action. However, without trust, few will invest their time and energy into buying what you’re selling. 

Here, we’ll explore the concept of trust in SEO copywriting and how search engines use trust as one metric to grade your content’s relevance to those searching for products or services such as yours.

The Extra “E” in E-A-T

SEO content is undoubtedly the best way to get your content in front of the right audience, but what good is it if it doesn’t lead them toward an action? What good is it to have a beautiful swimming pool but no water to fill it? There isn’t and that’s why we’re going to share the importance of establishing trust. Trust that will keep your readers eager to engage further.

With the Google Search Engine now adding “experience” to their well-known E-A-T evaluation of which results score higher than others, trust is now a crucial part of the operation. Not just morally speaking, but also through technical functionality. However, Google’s change can present a torrent of questions. 

Here are a few key points as you craft your SEO content to stand out amongst the rest:

• Present your goal
• Do your research
• Provide trustworthy sources
• Articulate clearly and without confusion
• Deliver exactly what you first promised

Providing experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness takes more than great content—it takes strategy. If your copywriters don’t understand your business’s goals and objectives and can then produce copy that supports those, find a new business copywriter.

Present Your Goal

Readers should already know what they are getting themselves into the moment they read your very first header. How often do you read the title of a post and think you understand exactly what’s going on, only to realize later that you’ve been hoodwinked when you actually read the whole post? It’s the classic tale of “clickbait,” according to SEMrush. 

These creators become dependent on such tactics because it scores them quick views or a lot of clicks because of shock or emotion, when in reality, it only hurts their content because they battle both Google’s Page Title Update and, more importantly, their reputation with potential followers. 

This is only one reason why it’s so important to make sure you tell your readers exactly what it is you are offering them, even before they click on your page. The second is for a more obvious basis–no one likes being lied to. If you say it anywhere in your blog, mean it.

Do Your Research

It’s easy to write down the things you believe and pass them off as truth, but the problem which can arise from that is a lack of insight and perspective. 

You could teach a person from the UK all about American driving laws and they’d still be in trouble in their home country. Always keep your audience in mind. Telling someone to drive on the wrong side of the road is probably a scenario you will never find yourself running into, but it does show that even absolute truths for you aren’t always true for others. 

Always acknowledge what you’re writing and to whom you are writing. Do your research and understand your craft. Don’t say anything that you can’t back up with clear evidence, cited from a reputable source.

Provide Trustworthy Links

As we’ve just established, citing reputable sources is crucial; both for SEO and reputation management. Keep track of the places you did your research from and provide those same links to your readers. Don’t keep them guessing. Blind faith is not something we should hope our readers have with us. Give them evidence and a sense of ease. 

The old saying, “show, don’t tell,” applies even here. You don’t want to just tell your readers things and expect them to listen. Embed your links and make sure the sources that you cite are also trustworthy. A bad source can sour your content, reducing the trustworthiness and credibility of your brand.

Articulate Clearly and Without Confusion

There’s no need to use big words to seem smart or create a poetic rhythm to demonstrate elegance. Have you ever heard that in a relationship communication is key? That is exactly what’s being built between your readers and yourself. 

Too much detail is also another way to confuse your readers. Yes, boring them is also a very dangerous thing to do. The longer your explanations, the more likely your readers are to get distracted and miss something or jump from your site altogether to find a competitor whose message is clearer. It’s best to keep your words deliberate and use simple terms instead of vague descriptions. 

You could describe the hat on someone’s head as being billed with a snapback closer, but you could just as easily call it a baseball cap. Keep your tone suited for your audience. Engineers may prefer the extra detail while the prose might need to be catered differently to a younger, female audience looking at a fashion site. 

Remember that, ultimately, your readers are here to learn something and they likely won’t perceive your message as intended if your SEO copywriting is muddled. 

Deliver Exactly What You First Promised

There are plenty of factors that could result in not delivering the results you said you would. One could be the simple case of forgetting. Continuity errors or loose ends are what they are often called in the entertainment business. 

A way to avoid such things is by reading your post out loud to yourself. This will both help ensure you didn’t miss anything and it will also tell you if what you’ve written makes any sense. Sure it sounded good in your head, but what about when it’s actually on paper? 

The second reason you might not deliver what you first promised circles back to our first bullet point–clickbait. We’re not going to go into that again, but we will encourage truth in advertising. If you offer the moon, give the moon. There is no sense in trying to build trust if you aren’t willing to be trustworthy. And, hey, if you can’t deliver exactly what you first set out to do, there’s nothing wrong with reevaluating. 

Let’s say you started writing your post with the title “7 Ways to Present an Effective Movie Pitch,” but in your research, you found some great ways to also provide TV pitches and provide only three pitching techniques for movies and four for TV. 

Readers are checking your post specifically for movies with your previous title so something like “7 Ways to Present an Effective Film Pitch” might be more appropriate. Bear in mind, this won’t kill your chances of bringing in readers searching for the term “movie pitch.” If your keywords are well positioned in the article, it can still populate with such a search. 

The bottom line is people don’t like being disappointed and will choose to avoid such feelings if at all possible. They will be less likely to return if they feel they’ve been misled. Provide everything you promised and your readers will finish feeling respected and, you may even score bonus points as honesty leads to loyalty, according to a Linkedin study.

Ready to Get Started with Trustworthy Content?

Trust is something people love to reserve these days, so it means something extra special when they give it. It creates a remarkable bond between those that share it. That’s exactly what we do as SEO copywriters. We build trust with your audience with engaging content built on extensively-researched facts. 

To get started, please check out our SEO copywriting services and input an order or contact us directly to go over the details of your assignment. With no contracts and lightning fast turnaround times, we strive to become your go-to for strategic brand communications.